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Croft victory for Jordan and Pirtek Racing

01/07/2014 | Racing

Andrew Jordan and Pirtek Racing were back on the top step of the podium at the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire (June 28/29) with a consummate victory in round 15 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. The win came after sixth and fourth places in the earlier two races as Andrew bounced back into contention following a difficult weekend at Oulton Park. The challenging Croft track near Darlington drew its biggest BTCC crowd for more than a decade and the fans were treated to some spectacular and action-packed racing. Andrew qualified well in sixth place and was on the pace of all the leading contenders except the BMW of Colin Turkington, which was faster than everyone else all weekend.

In the first race the Pirtek Racing Honda Civic finished fifth on the road after a tough race, but picked up a one-second penalty over a move on Matt Neal’s Honda. The penalty put Andrew back behind Neal in the results. In race two, Andrew took a strong fourth place as the BMW’s romped away at the head of the race. Starting from sixth on the grid in the reverse grid draw for race three, Andrew made a stunning start and was up to second in less than half a lap. He then sat on the tail of leader Fabrizio Giovanardi until the Jim Clark Esses, where the cars touched and Giovanardi ran wide.

Andrew dived ahead and went on to dominate the race and win by five seconds, scoring his fourth win of the season. “Fabrizio completely caught me by surprise on the first lap with how much he slowed for the Jim Clark Esses,” said Andrew, who could not avoid tagging the back of the Ford Focus on the approach to Barcroft. The incident was investigated and Andrew was handed a 10-place grid penalty for the next race at Snetterton. However, the Pirtek team has appealed the decision. “It’s great to be back up there – we really needed it,” said Andrew. “Oulton Park was poor and we struggled in the first two races at Croft, so to get a win is so important. The car was fantastic: the boys have been working so hard and I’d have been happy with a podium, but to get the win was special. It’s a great pick-up for the team and I want to take this momentum forward into the break. “We couldn’t quite get the balance where we needed it – sometimes the gaps open up for you and sometimes they don’t, and for the last few races they just weren’t there but we never give up at Pirtek Racing.”

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